Twist City
Twist City is a 2008 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Supreme Entertainment for Paramount Pictures. The second feature film from Supreme, it was directed by Adrian Hancock (in his directorial debut) and written by Hancock, Laurie Craig, and Leslie Dixon, and stars the voices of Josh Keaton, Jonah Hill, Kay Hanley, Dan Castellaneta, Jon Lovitz, Hank Azaria, Ben Stiller, Willem Dafoe, and Danny McBride. It tells the story of a barker who tries to uncover the flaws of the democratic society he lives in. The film was released in the United States on October 24, 2008, and received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its humor, cast, animation, music, and themes. It grossed over $162.7 million worldwide over its $62 million budget. Plot An annual celebration is held on the first day of summer of every eight years in Twitzer Park, a fictional carnival-style city named after its mayor and co-run by one of its own residents. More coming soon! Voice cast *Josh Keaton as Evan MacClature, a barker at the annual election fair who becomes doubtful of the Vanilla Soul system and goes out to break down its pitfalls. *Jonah Hill as Caesar Applegate, Evan's co-worker and best friend who is finally of age to become one of the candidates. His goal with the crown is to inspire freedom across the city. *Kay Hanley as Kayla Mobeus, a waitress at Merry's cafe with her own intention to use the crown to translate her own goody-themed metaphors into a living, smooth law system. *Willem Dafoe as Taube Hoolobis, a businessman and former magician who seeks the crown himself in order to rule Twitzer Park, only with ill intentions. *Dan Castellaneta as Beefburger Bason, a cook who runs the fast-food stand with his co-worker Nez *Ben Stiller as Nez Cray Chicken, a fryer and Bason's comrade *Jon Lovitz as Four-Story Simeon, the runner of a facility named The Impossible Tower *Hank Azaria as Mr. Pro Moe, a middle-aged stuntman *Danny McBride as Mayor Twitzer *John Hodgman as Evan's cloud father *Ashleigh Ball as Evan's cloud mother *Fred Stoller, Matt Frewer, Jeffrey Garcia, and Bill Murray as Evan's cloud brothers Lamar, Geri, Javier, and Benjie *Susan Sarandon as Merry May, the eponymous founder, and manager of the local cafe More coming soon! Additional voices *Isabella Acres *Lori Alan *Bob Bergen *John Cygan *Bill Farmer *Greg Finley *Jeff Fischer *Teresa Ganzel *Adrian Hancock *Jess Harnell *Sherry Lynn *Danny Mann *Mona Marshall *Anndi McAfee *Mickie McGowan *Laraine Newman *Jan Rabson *Will Shadley *John Venzon *Jim Ward *Ariel Winter Production Coming soon! Marketing Trailers *The teaser trailer was released on February 13, 2008, and was shown before films such as The Spiderwick Chronicles, Horton Hears a Who!, College Road Trip, and Nim's Island. *The first theatrical trailer was released on May 13, 2008, and was shown before films such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, WALL-E, Swapped, and The X-Files: I Want to Believe. *The second theatrical trailer was released on August 5, 2008, and was shown before films such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Heroball, Time Chasers, and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Reception Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 91% "Certified Fresh" approval rating based on 152 reviews, along with the given consensus: "Twist City's enthusiastic quirk is backed up with a smartly crafted story that deals with the concern of dominance, along with the cast's lyrical charm and Adrian Hancock's sophisticated direction." Metacritic gives the film an 82 out of 100 from 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Box office The film grossed $188,306,411 in North America and $174,419,860 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $362,726,271. The film placed second in North America's box office with $18.1 million on its opening weekend. It grossed $72.9 million, topping North America's box office during the weekend, and remaining #1 on the second weekend. This also marked the biggest opening for an original non-Disney animated film, a record which was later overtaken by Paradoria in 2015. Home media The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 10, 2009. Soundtrack The film's original soundtrack album was released on November 11, 2008, through Lakeshore Records. The songs for the film were composed by Marc Shaiman, while the score was composed by Randy Edelman. Tracklisting #Twist City (Barbershop Intro) - The Twist City Singers #Main Titles / To Work #Twist City - The Twist City Singers #Evan and Cesar #Hoolobis #Vanilla Soul - Jonah Hill #Soul Parade #The Competition #Cloud Family #Here's Your Chance - The Cloud Family Choir #Advice #Here's Your Chance (Reprise) - Josh Keaton and the Cloud Family Choir #The Park Closes #I Won't Ever Steal a Soul - Castellaneta, Lovitz, Azaria, and Stiller #Send Out the Heart Bandits #Merry May's Cafe #Cream and Sugar - Kay Hanley #Hoolobis Screws Up #Second Thoughts #That's Where You're Going Today - Willem Dafoe and Josh Gad #Towerquake #Cloud Nine #Final Confrontation #Evan's Speech #Twist City (Finale) - Keaton and the Twist City Singers #End Credits #Twist City (Barbershop Reprise) - The Twist City Singers Gallery Coming soon! Transcripts Main To see the transcript for the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the film's trailers, click here. Category:Films Category:Films distributed by Paramount Pictures Category:2008 Category:2000s Category:Twist City